Presence lite

ABSTRACT

A service is provided to cell phone subscribers to improve reachability. A home location register node maintains state information on a subscriber&#39;s cell phone status. Cell phone status information includes: off; on, registered and available to receive calls; on, registered but busy participating in an ongoing call; on, registered but temporarily unavailable; and on, registered but unattended. Temporarily unavailable is further qualified: poor reception location, high interference, cell throughput saturation, intentional user disposition. Long term unavailability may also be inferred and indicated depending on the device and/or system status. When a call to a subscriber&#39;s cell phone cannot be completed or is not answered, the service annunciates the reason to the calling party. The calling party can then make a more informed decision as to when to reattempt the call and is more likely to reattempt the call. The service is provided in conjunction with call forwarding to landlines phones and/or voicemail.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/629,158 filed on Nov. 18, 2004, titled:“PRESENCE LITE”.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to systems and methods forforwarding telephone calls and, in particular, to methods and apparatusfor determining the status of a called cellular telephone.

BACKGROUND

When a caller places a call to a cell phone which is on, the call isnormally routed through a base station acting as an access point. If thecall fails to reach a called party, the caller generally receives anindication as to whether the called party is on the phone, i.e., whetherthe phone is busy or not as reflected in a busy signal or multipleunanswered rings. The call, if it is not successfully completed to thecalled party, may be transferred to voicemail which may replay apre-recorded message, e.g., a daily message, on the status of the calledparty, e.g., “I am in the office today”, etc. This information issimilar to some “presence” information that may be conveyed in instantmessaging. Also, in implementations including versions of the Find Me,Follow Me (FMFM) service concept, known in the art, the caller is giveninformation about the busy status of additional phones, to which theoriginal call may be transferred, as a call is forwarded from one phoneto the next in a predefined call transfer sequence.

While existing systems provide some information when a call is notanswered or completed, it would be desirable if methods and apparatuswere available for a caller to be able to obtain additional“presence-like” information regarding the called party. In particular,it would be advantageous if the calling party could obtain detailedstatus information regarding the called cellular telephone. For example,if the caller originally places a call to a cellular telephone, it wouldbe desirable for the caller to know if the called cellular telephone isoff or on, in addition to whether the called cellular phone is on andbusy. In addition, it would be beneficial if called cell phone statusinformation that further qualifies the called cell phone “on” state wasavailable to be provided to the calling party, e.g., “on but currentlyinaccessible due to system constraints,” “on but inaccessible due tocalled party decision,” “on but unattended,” “on and busy.”

Methods and apparatus that facilitate the availability of suchadditional information to the calling party would provide the benefit ofincreasing the likelihood that a caller will decide to call back orleave a message. By providing the caller with detailed called party cellphone status, the caller would then be able make a more informeddecision as to when the next calling attempt should be undertaken. Thus,the calling party may no longer feel that he/she is wasting time bymaking futile calling attempts and the calling party is less likely tobecome quickly frustrated and abandon calling attempts. In addition, thecalling party may be more likely to be in an agreeable mood and be morepleased with the called party, e.g., when a successful call iscompleted.

Furthermore, some cellular telephone users, e.g., salespeople, jobseekers, lonely individuals, etc., would find it highly desirable andbeneficial from a financial and/or social perspective to receive morecalls from people who have their cellular telephone numbers. Methods andapparatus that provide feedback on a cellular phone's status to thecalling party would tend to encourage the calling party to try again, ifcurrently unsuccessful. Such cellular telephone users would bepredisposed to subscribe to such a service provided by a serviceprovider as either an individual add-on service or as part of a widerservice package, thus having a tendency to increase revenues and/orcustomer base for a service provider offering such a feature.

SUMMARY OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is directed to methods and apparatus used tomaintain status information on cellular telephones, determine thecurrent status of a called cellular telephone, and provide suchdetermined status information to the calling party. Features of thepresent invention are in some embodiments, implemented in conjunctionwith call forwarding implementations. Such implementations may includecall forwarding to landline phones and/or voicemail services.

Various systems and methods, implemented in accordance with the presentinvention, are directed to the problem of reaching an individual whencalling a cell phone number, particularly when the called party'scellular telephone is not getting proper reception or is turned off. Byre-routing a call directed to a cell phone to a landline number attimes, in accordance with one feature of some embodiments of the presentinvention, it is possible to save money and/or provide better speechquality than would have been possible had the call been routed throughthe cellular telephone as requested. One cause for redirection to alandline phone can be inability to complete and/or maintain the call tothe cell phone due to poor reception. In some embodiments, at least somecalls placed to cell phones are intentionally redirected, in accordancewith the present invention, to landline phones when the called cellphone is not getting proper reception. In some embodiments, at leastsome calls placed to cell phones which could have been completed to thecell phone, are intentionally redirected, in accordance with the presentinvention, to landline phones as a function of called cell phoneoperator commands. In some embodiments, the redirection commands may beissued prior to the call being placed. In some embodiments, redirectionscommands are issued and implemented at the time the placed call isringing the called cell phone.

Some existing wireless networks detect the basic operational status of acell phone, i.e., off, on, or busy, and on the basis of such detectedstatus information can perform operations such as routing calls. Variousnovel systems and methods, in accordance with the present invention,take advantage of such available information and functionality byreporting such status information to callers; routing calls to anothernetwork or to voicemail may be performed in conjunction with the calledcell phone status reporting to the calling party. Further, in someembodiments, an alerting function notifies the called party, at a latertime when the called party becomes available, that an incoming call hasbeen missed. In some embodiments, such notifications include indicationsas to whether or not called party status information had been providedto the calling party and may also include the status information if suchinformation was provided.

Some embodiments of the present invention include additional featuresand enhancements directed to detecting, collecting and reportingadditional information on the status of a called cell phone. One novelfeature informs a caller with detailed status as to the called party'scellular telephone. For example, the information may include whether thecalled party's cellular telephone phone is off, on but busy, on buttemporarily unavailable, or on but unattended. Theon-but-temporarily-unavailable information may be provided wheretemporary signal loss is detected, e.g., as in the case of signalinterference or loss due to change in position. In addition, theon-but-temporarily-unavailable status can, in some embodiments, befurther qualified in terms of temporarily unavailable due to systemissues or temporarily unavailable due to a called party's intentionalchoice. For example, temporarily-unavailable-due-to-system-conditionsmay include: unavailable due to poor reception due to cell phonelocation in a dead spot, unavailable due to poor reception due to highinterference levels, and unavailable due to scheduling conflicts, e.g.,capacity saturation within the called party's currently located cell. Anexample of temporarily unavailable due to user selection can include acalled party in an important meeting responding to his/her ringing cellphone by recognizing the calling party via caller ID and intentionallyperforming an input operation on his/her cell phone to initiate atransfer of the incoming call to voicemail, so as not to disrupt the inprogress meeting. Another example, of temporarily unavailable due to auser selection can include a called party intentionally performing aninput operation on his/her cell phone which is known to initiate a calltransfer to a landline phone, the landline phone being at the samelocation at which the called party is currently located.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the caller may inferthe state of the called party from the information provided on the stateof the called cellular telephone. This information provided caninfluence the calling party's decision as to when to attempt to againinitiate the call. Further, in various embodiments, calls to a cellulartelephone may be transferred to a landline phone, and/or voicemail, ifthe call is not completed to the cellular telephone. In someembodiments, the transfer and/or reason for transfer is announced to thecaller, who can then accept or break off the call as he or she chooses.

In accordance with various embodiments of the invention, the amount oftime a user has been unreachable can be used for making the inference asto whether the user is temporarily unreachable as opposed to unreachablefor an extended period of time. The amount of time the user has beenunreachable along with the reason the user has been unreachable can, andin various embodiments is, communicated to the calling party. Thisinformation can be communicated with information indicating whether ithas been inferred that the called party is temporarily unreachable or isexpected to be unreachable for an extended period of time. Temporaryunreachability may be in the time frame of a few minutes or under inhour while long term unreachability, in some embodiments, iscommunicated when the called party is expected, based on the availablestate information, to be unreachable for an hour or more.

User unavailability for an extended period of time, e.g., more than athreshold period which can be specified by the user in some embodimentsor set by the system, results in an inference that the called party'sunavailability is long term. However, in the case of the unavailabilityhave only just occurred or having a duration less than the predeterminedthreshold, it is usually inferred, if the called party's cell phone isregistered, that the unavailability is temporary. Thus, while the calledparty may be unavailable for a particular reason, additionalinformation, such as the duration for which the called party has beenunavailable, can produce an inference of temporary or long termunavailability. In the case of an inference of temporary unavailabilitythis is usually communicated to the calling party by an announcementthat the called party is “temporarily unavailable” with the reason beingcommunicated in the same message to the caller. In the case of inferredlong term unavailability, the caller may be notified that the party isunavailable with the reason that the called party is unavailable, e.g.,the calling party may receive an audio announcement that “the calledparty is currently unavailable due to signal interference”. The amountof time the called party has been unavailable due to the particularcondition may also be communicated to the calling party in the case ofan inference of either temporary or long term unavailability because ofa particular condition. For example, the calling party may be played themessage “the called party is unavailable due to signal interference andhas been unavailable for the last 5 minutes”.

Reporting of called cell phone status information, routing calls, andalerting, in accordance with the present invention may occur after acellular telephone user has registered with the wireless network. Insome embodiments this registration occurs manually, i.e., the cell phoneuser calls in to the network and enters an access code or performs somesimilar steps in order to achieve registration.

In some embodiments, registration is performed automatically by thewireless cellular network, e.g., as part of ongoing housekeepingfunctions. By avoiding a manual registration cell phone user operationis simplified and encouraged.

In one exemplary automatic registration process of a cellular telephone,in an exemplary wireless communications network, performed followingcell phone power on, includes operating the cell phone to send, e.g.,periodically, a registration request signal. If a local base stationreceives the registration request signal and determines that the signalquality is sufficient to establish a wireless communication link, thebase station may in turn send a reply signal to the wireless terminalsignifying that the cell phone is being accepted for registration andmay use the base station as its point of network attachment. The Basestation then also signals the cell phone's Home location register (HLR)Node that the cellular telephone is activated and capable of receivingsignals, which could in turn enable an interconnection between thecellular and landline networks for the activated cell phone.

The base station may determine temporary changes in reachability statusof the cell phone based upon information derived from received signals,and/or the lack of a received signal from the cell phone. Other changesin temporary reachability status may include the base station schedulerdenying a cell phone access, e.g., due to heavy scheduling requirements.Changes in reachability status of the cell phone as determined by thebase station are, in some embodiments, forwarded to the home locationregister node where the state information corresponding to the cellphone is updated. Different mechanisms may be used for the forwarding ofchanges in reachability status of the cell phone from the basestation's, e.g., as a change is observed, periodically, and/or based ona request from the Home location register node. The request from theHome location register node can be made in response to a receivedrequest to complete a call.

When a cell phone user moves to a new cell and decides to use adifferent base station as its point of network attachment, the cellphone may automatically register via the new base station, resulting inthe new base station signaling the cell phone's Home location registernode to record the new registration information which will replace thepreviously recorded registration information.

In some embodiments, as part of a service offered to cell phone users, auser's cell phone status information maintained, e.g., in the Homelocation register Node, is made available, and provided to callingparties when a call cannot be completed to the called party. In someembodiments, a user's cell phone status information maintained, e.g., inthe Home location register Node, is made available, and provided tocalling parties when a call cannot be completed to the called party, andas part of a service available to users at least some called party cellphone status information, is restricted from being forwarded to at leastsome calling parties, e.g., as part of a cell phone status blockingservice offered to cell phone users.

Some embodiments include a call-logging function. Some embodimentsinclude making information available to callers in real time or nearreal time. Some embodiments include incorporation with a phone activitymonitor (PAM) such as is known to those skilled in the art,compatibility with 802.11 networks, and smart handsets.

In some embodiments various services and/or features, in accordance withthe present invention, are employed in applications including groupsubscriptions to a service provider. For example, a small business couldsubscribe to various called party cell phone status and inferenceservices in accordance with the present invention so that calls from oneperson to another in the same company could carry this additionalinformation, e.g., messages providing additional information andinferences on the status of the called party relating to a reason why aplaced call to a cell phone is not successfully completed or answered.In some embodiments of the present invention involving groupsubscriptions, the group comprises a set of family members. In someother embodiments of the present invention involving groupsubscriptions, the group comprises a group of individuals that haveauthorized a common association. In some such embodiments involvinggroup subscriptions, presence lite information relating to members, inaccordance with the present invention, would be provided to validcalling numbers corresponding to other group members but not to othercallers. Screening lists are established and maintained to support suchfunctionality.

Numerous additional features, benefits and embodiments are described inthe detailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a drawing of an exemplary system implemented in accordancewith the present invention and using methods of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a drawing of an exemplary Home location register nodeimplemented in accordance with the present invention and using methodsof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a drawing of an exemplary Central Office implemented inaccordance with the present invention and using methods of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a drawing of an exemplary cell phone, e.g., mobile node,implemented in accordance with the present invention and using methodsof the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a drawing of an exemplary base station (access node),implemented in accordance with the present invention and using methodsof the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates the various steps of an exemplary embodiment of thecommunications service of the present invention which can be used toservice cell phone calls.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an exemplary method of operating a homelocation register node in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an exemplary method of operating a cell phone,e.g., mobile node, in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a database of cellular phone state information whichis maintained and used in accordance with various embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 10 illustrates a routine for inferring the state of a called partyin accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the invention from statusinformation maintained in the exemplary database of FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a drawing of an exemplary system 100 implemented in accordancewith the present invention and using methods implemented in accordancewith the present invention. System 100 includes a wireless cellularcommunications network 102 and a landline communications network 104.The wireless cellular communications network 102 includes a plurality ofbase stations (BS 1 106, BS N 108), with each base station (106, 108)having a corresponding wireless cellular coverage area represented as acell (cell 1 110, cell N 112), respectively. Wireless cellularcommunication system 102 also includes a plurality of cell phones, e.g.,mobile nodes (MN 1 114, MN 2 116, MN 3 118, MN 4 120, MN 5 122, MN N124, MN 1′ 128, MN 2′ 130, MN 3′ 132, MN 4′ 134, MN 5′ 136, MN N′ 138,which may move throughout the system 102. A cell phone within a basestation's cell may register with the base station and use that basestation as its access point or point of network attachment.

In exemplary wireless cellular communications network 102 as illustratedin FIG. 1, MNs 1-N (114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124) are located withincell 1 110. MNs can be in different states of operation at differenttimes. MN 1 114 represents an exemplary cell phone which is located incell 1 110, but is not powered on and is not currently registered to useBS 1 106 as its point of network attachment. MN 2 116 represents anexemplary cell phone which is in the process of registering to use BS 1106 as its point of network attachment and is coupled to BS 1 106 viawireless link 140. MN 3 118 represents an exemplary cell phone which iscurrently registered to use BS 1 106 as its point of network attachment,is coupled to BS 1 106 via wireless link 142, and is currently availableto receive an incoming call. MN 3 118 may or may not be attended to atthe present time, which can also influence whether or not a call can becompleted to MN 3 118. MN 4 120 represents an exemplary cell phone whichis currently registered to use BS 1 106 as its point of networkattachment, is coupled to BS 1 106 via wireless link 144, and istemporarily unavailable to receive an incoming call, e.g., due to poorreception. MN 5 122 represents an exemplary cell phone which iscurrently registered to use BS 1 106 as its point of network attachment,is coupled to BS 1 106 via wireless link 146, and is unavailable toreceive an incoming call because MN 5 is currently busy participating inan ongoing call. MN N 124 represents another exemplary cell phone whichmay be in any arbitrary state of operation, and when coupled to BS 1 106is coupled via wireless link 148.

In exemplary wireless cellular communications network 102 as illustratedin FIG. 1, MNs 1′-N′ (128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138) are located withincell N 112. MN 1′ 128 represents an exemplary cell phone which islocated in cell N 112, but is not powered on and is not currentlyregistered to use BS N 108 as its point of network attachment. MN 2′ 130represents an exemplary cell phone which is in the process ofregistering to use BS N 108 as its point of network attachment and iscoupled to BS N 108 via wireless link 150. MN 3′ 132 represents anexemplary cell phone which is currently registered to use BS N 108 asits point of network attachment, is coupled to BS N 108 via wirelesslink 152, and is currently available to receive an incoming call. MN 3′132 may or may not be attended to at the present time, which can alsoinfluence whether or not a call can be completed to MN 3′ 132. MN 4′ 134represents an exemplary cell phone which is currently registered to useBS N 108 as its point of network attachment, is coupled to BS N 108 viawireless link 154, and is temporarily unavailable to receive an incomingcall, e.g., due to poor reception. MN 5′ 136 represents an exemplarycell phone which is currently registered to use BS N 108 as its point ofnetwork attachment, is coupled to BS N 108 via wireless link 156, and isunavailable to receive an incoming call because MN 5′ 136 is currentlybusy participating in an ongoing call. MN N′ 138 represents anotherexemplary cell phone which may be in any arbitrary state of operation,and when coupled to BS N 108 is coupled via wireless link 158.

Base stations (106, 108) are coupled to a network node 160, e.g., arouter, via network links (162, 164), respectively. Network node 160, iscoupled to a home location register node 166 via network link 168. Homelocation register node 166 maintains state information on each of aplurality of mobile nodes, e.g., storing information on whether or notthe mobile node is currently registered, storing information identifyingthe base station being currently used as the point of network attachmentwhen registered, and storing information on the operational status ofmobile nodes. In accordance with one feature of the present invention,operational status state information on a called cell phone can bereturned to the calling party when a call cannot be completed. Networknode 160 is also coupled to a network interface node 170 via networklink 172. Network interface node 170 may perform protocol conversionsand provide network edge security functions. Networks links (162, 164,168, 172) may be, e.g., fiber optic cables.

System 100 also includes a landline communications network 104. Landlinecommunications network 104 includes a plurality of Central Offices(Central Office 1 174, Central Office N 176). Central Office 1 174 iscoupled to a plurality of landline telephone devices (landline telephone1 178, landline telephone N 180) via links (182, 184), respectively.Central Office N 176 is coupled to a plurality of landline telephonedevices (landline telephone 1′ 186, landline telephone N′ 188) via links(190, 192), respectively. Links (182, 184, 190, 192) may be, e.g., PlainOld Telephone Service (POTS) Cu lines. Central Offices (174, 176) arecoupled to network node 193, e.g., a router, via network links 194, 195,respectively. Network node 193 is coupled to network interface node 196via network link 197. Network interface node 196 may perform protocolconversion operations and provide network boundary security functions.Network interface node 196 is coupled to network interface node 170 vianetwork link 198 coupling the landline communications network 104 withthe wireless cellular communications network 102. Network links (194,195, 197, 198) may be, e.g., fiber optic links.

FIG. 2 is a drawing of an exemplary home location register node 200implemented in accordance with the present invention and using methodsimplemented according to the present invention. Exemplary home locationregister node 200 may be the home location register node 166 of FIG. 1.Home location register node 200 includes an I/O interface 202, aprocessor 204, and memory 206 coupled together via bus 208 over whichthe various elements may interchange data and information. Memory 206includes routines 210 and data/information 212. The processor 204, e.g.,a CPU, executes the routines 210 and uses the data/information 212 tocontrol the operation of the home location register node 200 andimplement methods of the present invention.

Routines 210 includes a registration module 214, a status updateprocessing module 216, a communications module 218, a calltransfer/status module 220, an alerting module 222, and an establishedcall forwarding module 224. Data/information 212 includes mobile nodeinformation 226 including a plurality of sets of mobile node information(MN 1 information 228, MN M information 230). Each set of MN info (228,230) corresponds to one of the mobile nodes in the wirelesscommunications system for which the home location register node isresponsible to store state information (e.g., the address of the currentpoint of network attachment). New incoming calls directed to a mobilenode are routed based on information in the home location register node.The incoming calls may be from another mobile node or a landlinecommunications device. In some embodiments, multiple home locationregister nodes 200 are used in the wireless communications system withthe full set of mobile nodes being divided among the plurality of homelocation register nodes 200. In some systems, base stations include homelocation register functionality described with respect to node 200 andserve as the home location register for a set of mobile nodes.

MN 1 information 228 includes state information 232, receivedregistration/status messages 234, received call establishment signals236, call establishment signals to base station 237, MN status messages238, call transfer/status messages 240, missed call information 242, anduser voice/data signals 244. State information 232 includes cell phonenumber/identification information 245, registered attachment pointinformation 246, current status information 248, landline forwardinginformation 250, and, in some embodiments, blocking information 252.

Registration module 214 receives registration/status messages 234 frombase stations, e.g., each time a mobile node whose home locationregister is home location register node 200, requests registration andis accepted for registration by a base station. The mobile node may havebeen powered on and registered to use one particular base station as itspoint of network attachment but has now moved into a new cell and seeksto register with a new base station to obtain a new point of attachmentto the network. As another possibility, the mobile node may have beenpreviously powered off and just powered up, and the registration processis part on an automatic initialization process. Registration module 214obtains received registration/status messages 234. The registrationmodule 214 processes the message 234 identifying the mobile node andstores state information included in the message, e.g., registeredattachment point information 246 and current status information 248.Registered attachment point information 246 may include an identifieridentifying the specific base station in the wireless system and anaddress associated with that base station for use in forwarding. Currentstatus information 248 that may be included in message 234 includes,e.g., information indicating that the MN 1 is powered on and availableto receive incoming calls.

Status update processing module 216 receives MN status messages 238 fromthe base stations of already registered mobile nodes indicating changesin mobile node status. Status update processing module 216 updatesregistered attachment point information 246 and/or current statusinformation 248 based on received MN status messages 238. The MN statusmessage 238 may indicate that the currently registered base station hasnot received any signaling from MN 1 for a specified timeout intervaland the base station has decided to de-register MN 1 and consider itoff. As another example, the MN status message 238 may indicate that MN1 is still registered with the same BS, but is temporarily unavailableto receive incoming calls, e.g., due to poor reception resulting fromthe location of MN 1 and/or system interference levels. Anotherexemplary MN status message may indicate that MN 1 is still registeredwith the same BS, but is temporarily unavailable to receive incomingcalls, e.g., due to cell capacity levels being exceeded. As stillanother example, the MN status message may indicate that MN 1 is stillregistered with the same BS, but is temporarily unavailable to receiveincoming calls, e.g., due to MN 1 user selection to redirect the call,e.g., to a landline or answering service. An exemplary MN status messagemay indicate that a call has been established and is in progress, so themobile node is considered busy. After a call has terminated, an MNmessage 238 may indicate that the call has terminated and that the MN isnow available to receive new incoming calls.

Communications module 218 performs operations including processingsignals including requests to establish a new call with one of themobile nodes for which node 200 is serving home location registerfunctionality. A received call establishment message 236 is a request tocomplete a call to a specific MN, e.g., identified by phone number/IDmatching the MN state information phone number/ID, e.g. MN 1 cell phonenumber/ID info 245. The originating device may be a landlinecommunication device, e.g., phone from a landline communications networkor another mobile node, e.g., another cell phone from the same or adifferent wireless cellular communications network. Communicationsmodule 218 checks the state information, associated with the requestedcalled party mobile node, e.g., MN 1 state info 232. If the calledmobile node is currently registered with a base station and the currentstatus information indicates that the mobile node is available toreceive an incoming call, then the communications module 218 can attemptto complete the call by sending call establishment signals 237 to themobile node's registered base station. Assuming that the call isanswered by the called party, the home location register node can changethe current status information 248 to indicate that the called mobilenode is now registered, on and busy due to an in progress call. Thecommunications module 218 can notify the established call forwardingmodule 224 to direct user voice/data signals 244 to the address of thebase station to which the called MN is currently registered. Theestablished call forwarding module 224 redirects user voice/data signals244 for established calls as per stored MN state information. In someembodiments and/or under some conditions, the communications module 218as part of completing a call will notify the calling party of theaddress of the registered base station corresponding to the called MN,and the user voice/data signals may be sent directly to the base stationwithout traversing the home location register node 200.

If the communications module 218 when checking the state information,associated with the requested called party mobile node, e.g., MN 1 stateinfo 232, determines the call cannot be completed to the called party,the communications module can direct operation to the calltransfer/status module 220. The call transfer/status module 220 can sendcall transfer/status messages 240 toward the calling party. The calltransfer/status messages 240 can include state information on the calledparty mobile node, e.g., cell phone status. An exemplary calltransfer/status message 240 includes information identifying why thecall cannot be completed at the current time, e.g., cell phone iscurrently registered but temporarily unavailable due to poor reception.Such cell phone status information can be played to the calling party.In addition, in some embodiments, the status information is accompaniedby a transfer operation, e.g., to one or more landline phone insuccession, to voicemail, or to one or more landline phones insuccession and if unsuccessful to voicemail. In some embodiments, thestatus of the cell phone and the call transfers are announced to thecaller, who can then break off the call as he/or she chooses. Landlineforwarding information 250 includes numbers of landline phones and/orvoicemail direction information which the call transfer/status module220 can use to direct calls intended for MN 1 which cannot be completed.

In some embodiments, landline forwarding information 250 may includeinformation identifying that a call or calls from a specific callingparty number should be transferred, e.g., based upon MN 1's operator'sdiscretion.

In some embodiments, blocking information 252 is included. The blockinginformation 252 includes information identifying that called cell phonestatus information corresponding to at least some possible incomingcalls to cell phone MN 1 which cannot be completed should not beforwarded. Various qualifications can be placed on the restriction ofcell phone status information. For example, the blocking can beimplemented for each of the incoming calls indefinitely until rescinded,or blocking can be implemented for some fixed designated time intervalor intervals. The blocking can be implemented for: an identified callingparty or parties and/or calling party number or numbers. Blockinginformation 252 can be used by the call transfer/status module 220 whengenerating call transfer/status messages, e.g., supporting a filteringcapability.

In some embodiments and/or under some conditions, the calltransfer/status module 220 does not transfer the incoming call whichcannot be completed to another phone number or voicemail, but simplysends a message 240 back to the calling party indicating that the callcannot be completed and including called party cell phone statusinformation, if permitted in view of the blocking information.

The alerting module 222 stores missed call information 242, when a callcannot be completed to an MN. For example, if MN 1 misses an incomingcall, information is stored in missed call information 242. The missedcall information 242 include information pertaining to the missed call,e.g., calling party name, calling party number, date, time of day,reason for missed call, e.g., line busy, off and not registered,registered but temporarily unavailable, etc. The missed call information242 may also include information identifying the information presentedto the calling party, redirection information, e.g., redirection phonenumber(s) and/or voicemail direction information. In some embodiments,the missed call information 242 may also include information indicatingthe calling party's response, e.g., when the calling party hung up. Whenthe MN becomes accessible, the alerting module 222 can signal the MN andnotify the MN of the missed call information, such that the MN canrespond if the MN user so desires. In some embodiments, the alertingmodule 222 signals the called party that a call is being missed at thetime the call is being missed, if the reason for the missed call is thatthe called party is currently busy participating in a different ongoingcall.

FIG. 3 is a drawing of an exemplary Central Office 300, which may be anyof the exemplary central offices (174, 176) of FIG. 1. Exemplary CentralOffice 300 includes an I/O network interface module 302, a POTSinterface module 304, a processor 306, and a memory 308 coupled togethervia a bus 310 over which the various elements may interchange data andinformation. I/O network interface module 302 interfaces the CentralOffice 300 to other network nodes within the landline communicationsnetwork. POTS interface module 304 interfaces each of the individualPOTS lines supported by the Central Office to the Central Office 300,thus providing an I/O interface for a plurality of landline telephoneusers. Memory 308 includes routines 312 and data/information 314. Theprocessor 306, e.g., a CPU, executes the routines 312 and uses thedata/information 314 in memory 308 to control the operation of theCentral Office 300 and implement the methods implemented according tothe present invention.

Routines 312 include a call establishment module 316 and a calltransfer/called party status processing module 318. The calltransfer/called party status processing module 318 includes a cellnumber to landline number forwarding module 320, a landline number tovoicemail forwarding module 322, and a called party status informationpresentation module 323.

Data/information 314 includes system data/information 324, cell phonenetwork information 326, and call data/information 328. Systemdata/information 324 includes a plurality of sets of landlineinformation (landline 1 information 330, landline N information 332).Landline 1 information set 330 includes a name 334 associated with thelandline billing, a line phone number 336, and voicemail information 338associated with the voicemail to which unanswered calls on landline 1are redirected, if a voicemail service is implemented on the landline.Cell phone network information 326 includes information associated withcellular networks to which the landline network may be coupled, e.g.,information that may be used to identify that a call being placedthrough a landline phone via POTS interface 304 is being directed to acell phone rather than to a landline phone, and information allowing theidentification of the routing to reach the correct cellular networksupporting the called party's cell phone.

Call data/information 328 includes a plurality of sets of calldata/information (call 1 data/information 340, call N data/information342). Each set of call information (340, 342) corresponds to a callattempt originating from one of the POTS lines supported by CentralOffice 300. Call 1 data/information 340 includes received callestablishment signals from landline phone 344, source information 346,destination information 348, call establishment signals to home locationregister 349, received transfer/called party status messages 350, andcalled party status information 352. Received call establishment signals344 includes signals received from a landline phone supported by theCentral Office 300 indicating that a call be placed to another phone,e.g., a cell phone. Received call establishment signals to home locationregister 349 includes call establishment signals sent out from theCentral Office 300 via I/O network interface module 302 and directedtoward the called party, e.g., toward the home location register node inthe wireless cellular network supporting the called cell phone. Sourceinformation 346 includes the calling party phone number, identityinformation, and routing information associated with the calling party.Destination information 348 includes the called party's phone number,and routing information associated with the called party. Thedestination information 348 may be changed as a result of the calltransfer module 318, e.g., when a called cell phone cannot be accessed.Received transfer/called party status messages 350 includes feedbackmessages from the called cell phone's home location register nodeprovided when the called cell phone cannot be reached and/or transferredirection information. Called party status information 352 isextracted from received transfer/called party status messages 350.Called party status information 352 includes, e.g., informationidentifying whether the called cell phone is on or off, informationconveying registration status, and when the called phone is on andcurrently registered but inaccessible, information indicating the reasonfor the inaccessibility, e.g., line busy, called party does not answercall, temporarily inaccessible due to poor reception, temporarilyinaccessible due to user selection, temporarily inaccessible due to cellcapacity saturation. Further qualification may be placed upon the reasonfor temporary inaccessibility due to poor reception, e.g., dead spot,high system interference level. Further qualification may also be placedupon the reason for temporary inaccessibility due to user selection,e.g., automatic transfer to a landline or voicemail, manual transfer toa landline or voicemail.

Call establishment module 316 receives call establishments signals 344from the POTS module 304 and generates outgoing call establishmentsignals 349 directed toward the called party's home location registernode via I/O interface network module 302, e.g., to initiate acommunications session set-up. Call transfer/called party statusprocessing module 318 processes signals received in response to arequested call to a cell phone which cannot be completed, e.g., signalsincluding received transfer/called party status messages 350. Thesignals received by the call transfer/called party processing module 318may also indicate that the placed call be redirected to another landlinephone or phones and/or voicemail. Cell number to landline numberforwarding module 320 handles redirection of an uncompleted call placedto a cell phone to a landline phone number, e.g., as directed in thereceived signaling received from the called cell phone's home locationregister node. Landline number to voicemail forwarding module 322directs a call that is unanswered by a landline phone to a voicemailcorresponding to the landline number, e.g., using the associationprovided in a set of landline information, e.g., landline 1 information330.

In some embodiments, the called cell phone's home location registerdirects a calling party to a landline phone, and the landline networkdoes further redirection if the call goes unanswered by the landlinenumber. In other embodiments, the cell phone's home location registerprovides a series of redirections, each contingent upon the previousredirection going unanswered, and the series of redirections may end ina voicemail. In some embodiments, called party cell phone statusinformation is reported to the calling party prior to redirection. Insome embodiments, called party cell phone status information is reportedto the calling party concurrent with redirection from the called cellphone. In some embodiments, each subsequent redirection is announced tothe calling party so that the calling party can decide to continue orterminate the calling attempt. In some embodiments, called party cellphone status information is reported to the calling party and noredirection occurs.

Called party status information presentation module 323 extracts calledparty status information 352 from received transfer/called party statusmessages 350, controls the presentation of the message to the callingparty, e.g., in terms of time of presentation, e.g., prior to any calltransfer operation or during a call transfer operation, and/or in termsof format of presentation, e.g., voice model used to generate themessage, and the called party status information presentation module 323implements the presentation to the calling party. In some embodiments,the formatting of presentation is performed in the cellular network ofthe called cell phone, and the called party status informationpresentation module 323 acts as a conduit presenting the formattedmessage to the calling party when directed.

FIG. 4 is a drawing of an exemplary cell phone, e.g., mobile node, 400,implemented in accordance with the present invention and using methodsof the present invention. Exemplary mobile node 400 may be any of theexemplary mobile nodes (114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124, 128, 130, 132,134, 136, 138) of FIG. 1. Exemplary mobile node 400 includes a wirelessreceiver module 402, a wireless transmitter module 404, user I/O devices406, a processor 408, and memory 410 coupled together via a bus 412 overwhich the various elements may interchange data and information. Thewireless receiver module 402 is coupled to a receive antenna 414 throughwhich the mobile node 400 may receive downlink signals 444 from basestations. The wireless transmitter module 404 is coupled to a transmitantenna 416 through which the mobile node can transmit uplink signals442 to base stations. In some embodiments, the same antenna is used forboth the receiver module 402 and transmitter module 404.

User I/O devices 406 includes, e.g., microphone, speaker, keypad,switches, displays, camera input, etc. through which an operator ofmobile node 400 can power on or power off MN 400, initiate calls, acceptcalls, direct calls to be transferred, view information related to callssuch as calling party number, missed call information, received calledparty state information, send and receiver user voice and datainformation, terminate calls, and initiate shutdowns.

Memory 410 includes routines 418 and data/information 420. The processor408, e.g., a CPU, executes the routines 418 and uses thedata/information 420 in memory 410 to control the operation of themobile node 400 and implement the methods of the present invention.Routines 418 includes a registration module 422, a mode control module424, an operator selected call forwarding module 430, a downlinksignaling control module 432, an uplink signaling control module 434,and an I/O control module 435. Data/information 420 includes MNdata/information 436, and system information 438. MN data/information436 includes state information 440, uplink signals 442, downlink signals444, and session user/device/assignment information 446.

State information 440 includes current status information 450 and BSidentification information 452. Current cell phone status information450 includes, e.g., information identifying current ON/OFF status,information identifying registration status, e.g., unregistered, inprocess of registering, registered, information further defining aregistered powered on state of operation, e.g., actively participatingin a call, available to receive a call, temporarily unavailable toreceive a call based on poor reception, temporarily unable to receive acall based on user selection, in the process of a call set-up, in theprocess of a call termination. Base station identification information452 includes information identifying the specific base station fromamong a plurality of base stations in the cellular communicationssystem, the specific base station being the base station at which thecell phone is currently registered to use as its point of networkattachment otherwise referred to as its access point. A base station issometimes referred to as an access node.

Uplink signals 442 include registration request messages 456, incomingcall acceptance signals 462, incoming call transfer signals 464, uservoice/data signals 466, call termination signals 468 and outgoing callinitiation signals 470. Downlink signals 444 include registrationacknowledgement messages 476, call initiation signals 482, uservoice/data signals corresponding to answered calls 484, missed callsignals 486, and received called party status signals 488, e.g.,messages conveying called party state information.

Registration module 422 controls registration operations of cell phone400 with base stations, e.g., when the cell phone 400 is powered on,and/or when cell phone 400 moves from one cell to another cell.Registration module 422 generates registration request messages 456which are sent to base stations and receives registrationacknowledgement messages 476 from the base station signifying acceptanceof the registration request.

Mode control module 424 controls mode changes in the cell phone, e.g.,implementing a power on command, implementing a call initiation,implementing a call termination. Mode control module 424 may generatecall termination signals 468, outgoing call initiation signals 470 andprocess received call initiation signals 482.

Operator selected call forwarding module 430 receives user inputdirecting an incoming call or call to be transferred, and then generatesincoming call transfer signals 464. For example, the user of MN 400, apowered on currently registered MN, may decide to temporarily transfereach of the incoming calls so as not to be disturbed, e.g., during ameeting, or to stop his/her cell phone from ringing. Alternatively, auser may decide to transfer a particular incoming call, e.g., based upona recognized caller identification. Or the user may decide to transferincoming calls, based on the fact that the user is currently located atthe site of a landline phone to which the incoming call will beredirected, and the user recognizes that he/she will have superior linequality by using the landline to receive the incoming call instead ofthe cell phone to which the call is directed.

Downlink signaling control module 432 controls the operation of wirelessreceiver module 402 and the reception of downlink signals 444. Uplinksignaling control module 434 controls the operation of wirelesstransmitter module 404 and the transmission of uplink signals 442. I/Ocontrol module 435 controls the operation of user I/O devices 406.

Missed call signals 486 include information collected by alerting module222 of home location register node 200, which may be used to notifymobile node 400 of calls that were not successfully completed to MN 400,e.g., for any of a number of various reasons such as MN off, MN busywith another call, MN unreachable due to system conditions, MNunreachable due to user selection, etc. Missed call signals 486 mayinclude calling party identification information, date and time taginformation, and/or called party status information presented to thecalling party. Information in missed call signals 486 is presented tothe user via user I/O devices 406 under the control of I/O controlmodule 435.

Received called party status signals 488 includes messages directed toMN 400, when MN 400 has initiated a call to another cell phone, and thecall cannot be completed to the other cell phone. Received called partystatus signals 488 includes messages explaining the reason why the callwas not completed to cell phone, e.g., phone off, phone busy, phoneinaccessible due to poor reception, call being transferred due to alandline due to operator choice, phone inaccessible due to cell loadingconsideration.

Session user/device/assignment information 446 includes informationidentifying routing and peer nodes in communications sessions with MN400, assignment information assigned by a base station scheduler to MN400 to be used to establish a call and/or to be used during anestablished call. Uplink user voice/data signals 466 and downlink uservoice/data signals 484 include the payload information being conveyedbetween the calling party and the called party during an establishedcall.

System information 438 includes a plurality of sets of base stationinformation (BS1 information 490, BS N information 492). Each set of BSinformation (490, 492) corresponding to one of the base stations thatexists in the wireless communications system at which MN 400 can attemptto register through and use as its point of network attachment. Each setof information (490, 492) may include information pertinent to the basestation, e.g., base station identifier, frequencies used, etc.

FIG. 5 is a drawing of an exemplary base station (access node) 500,implemented in accordance with the present invention and using methodsof the present invention. Exemplary base station 500 may be any of thebase stations (106, 108) of system 100 of FIG. 1. Exemplary base station500 includes a wireless receiver module 502, a wireless transmittermodule 504, an I/O interface module 506, a processor 508, and memory 510coupled together via a bus 512 over which the various elements mayinterchange data and information. Memory 510 includes routines 514 anddata/information 516.

The processor 508, e.g., a CPU, executes the routines 514 and uses thedata/information 516 in memory 510 to control the operation of the basestation 500 and implement the methods of the present invention. Thewireless receiver module 502 is coupled to a receive antenna 503 throughwhich the base station 500 receives uplink signals from a plurality ofcell phones, e.g., mobile nodes. The wireless transmitter module 504 iscoupled to a transmit antenna 505 through which the base stationtransmits downlink signals to mobile nodes. The I/O interface module 506couples the base station 500 to other network nodes, e.g., router nodes,home location register nodes, network interface nodes, etc., thusfacilitating connectivity between a cell phone, e.g., mobile node, inthe cell serviced by BS 500 with other cell phones in different cellsand/or with landline phones in a landline communications network.

Routines 514 include a registration module 518, a mobile node statusupdate module 520, a scheduler 522, and a communications module 524.Data/information 516 includes system data/information 526 and mobilenode data/information 528.

Registration module 518 performs registration control operationsincluding: receiving registration request messages 560 from MNs,considering received registration requests, generating and transmittingregistration acknowledgement messages 578 to MNs, generating and sendingregistration/status messages 542 to home location register nodes. Theregistration module 518 also stores state information for registeredMNs, e.g., home location register address 554. MN status update module520 controls operations including: receiving and processing uplinksignals indicative of MN status changes including: incoming callacceptance signals 566, incoming call transfer signals 568, calltermination signal's 572, and outgoing call initiation signals 574. MNstatus update module 520 also determines system loading and systeminterference levels. Based on received and determined information inview of the criteria stored in the base station, the MN status updatemodule 520 changes current status information, e.g., information 556associated with MN 1, and generates and sends MN status messages 544 tohome location register nodes. Scheduler 522 schedules assignments toregistered MNs in its cell. Scheduler 522 processes received callestablishment signals 546 from home location register nodes and respondsto incoming call acceptance signals 566 from MNs. Communications module524 controls operations of wireless receiver module 502, wirelesstransmitter module 504, and I/O interface module 506, implementscommunication protocols used by the base station, performs conversionoperations. Communications module 524 implements signaling operationsincluding control and information signaling conveying registrationstatus and/or transfer signaling as well as user voice/data signaling.

System data information 526 includes loading information 530 andinterference information 532. Loading information 530 includesinformation identifying when the cell capacity is saturated, and a callto a mobile node cannot be completed. Interference information 532includes information identifying current levels of air linkinterference. Interference information 532 includes informationidentifying when the level of interference is such that a call shouldnot be attempted to be completed to a called mobile node because theinterference will prevent the call from completing, will prevent thecall from being maintained, or is expected to result in unacceptably lowcall quality. In some embodiments, interference information 532 alsoincludes information identifying when the level of interference issufficient to support, complete, and maintain a call to a cell phonewith at least minimally acceptable call quality, but it might beadvantageous to route the call to an alternate landline phone instead ofthe cell phone to achieve a higher level of call quality.

MN data/information 528 includes a plurality of sets of data/information(MN 1 data/information 534, MN N data/information 536). MN 1data/information 534 includes state information 538, sessionuser/device/assignment information 540, registration/status messages tohome location register 542, MN status messages 544, received callestablishment signals from home location registers 546, user voice/datasignals 548, uplink signals 550 and downlink signals 552.

State information 538 includes home location register address 554 andcurrent status information 556. Home location register address 554 isthe address of the home location register node 200 which is the homelocation register for MN 1. Current status information 556 isinformation identifying the status of MN 1. Some exemplary statuses ofMN 1 may include, e.g., the following: in the process of registrationoperations, registered ON and available to accept a call, registered andON but currently unavailable to accept a call due to poor reception,registered and ON but currently unable to accept a new call due to anongoing call in progress, registered and ON but currently notresponding, e.g., called party is not answering an attempted call thatis ringing the cell phone, registered and ON but not accepting calls dueto operator commands, de-registered by BS 500 due to no received signalsfor a specified length of time currently registered and powered on butunable to receive calls due to base station cell capacity saturation,currently registered and powered on but unable to receive calls due tohigh levels of interference, etc.

Session/user/device/assignment information 540 includes informationpertaining to active sessions, e.g., calls in progress such as the phonenumber, address, and/or routing information associated with the peer inthe communications session, assignments associated with thecommunications session.

Registration/status messages to the home location register 542 and MNstatus messages 544 are messages generated by the base station andtransmitted via I/O interface module 506 to MN 1's home locationregister node 200. Received call establishment signals 546 are receivedvia I/O interface module 506 from MN 1's home location register node200. (Registration/status messages 542, MN status messages 544, andreceived call establishment signals 546) in base station 500 correspondto (received registration/status messages 234, MN status messages 238,and call establishment signals 237), respectively in home locationregister node 200, which have been previously described, and thedescription shall not be repeated for the purposes of brevity.

User/voice data signals 548 include completed call payload informationbeing communicated via base station 500 from or to MN 1. Some uservoice/data signals 548 may have been forwarded through home locationregister node 200, while other voice/data signals 548 may have bypassedthe home location register node 200 in the signal routing path, thesignal routing path being a portion of the communications path, betweenMN 1 and the peer node in the communications session with MN 1. Forexample, the portion of the communications path may be between the basestation 500 and a cellular network interface node. User/voice datasignals 548 includes received user voice/data signals whichcommunications module 524 converts to downlink user voice/data signalsfor MN1, and transmitted user voice/data signals which communicationsmodule 524 has generated from received UL user voice/data signals fromMN 1.

Uplink signals 550 include registration request messages 560, incomingcall acceptance signals 566, incoming call transfer signals 568, uplinkuser/voice data signals 570, call termination signals 572, and outgoingcall initiation signals 574. Uplink signals 550 are received from MN 1via antenna 503 and wireless receiver module 502. Downlink signals 552include registration acknowledgement messages 578, call initiationsignals 584, downlink user voice/data signals 586, missed call signals588, and received party status signals 590. Downlink signals 552 aregenerated by base station 500 and transmitted via wireless transmittermodule 504 and transmit antenna 505 to mobile node 1. Similarly namedsignals in uplink signals 550 and downlink signals 552 in base station500 correspond to similarly named signals in uplink signals 442 anddownlink signals 444 in MN 400, which have been described in detail withrespect to MN 400, and thus the descriptions shall not be repeated forpurposes of brevity.

FIG. 6 illustrates the various steps 600 of the communications serviceof the present invention which can be used to service cell phone calls.The method shown in FIG. 6 may be implemented by the communicationssystem shown in FIG. 1 when operated in accordance with the invention.The method starts in step 602 in which the various system components areinitialized for service. Once active, a network component, e.g., the HLRnode 166 which is accessed to obtain information used to route cellphone calls, monitors for call establishment signals used to establish acall to a cell phone corresponding to a telephone number of a servicesubscriber. The establishment signal, e.g., a signal sent to the HLRnode 166 to determine which cell a call should be routed to, normallyincludes the called party telephone number which can be used to identifya call directed to a service subscriber. In step 604, the HLR node candetect a call to a service subscriber by comparing the called partytelephone number to a set of telephone numbers corresponding to cellphone service subscribers who also subscribe to the service of thepresent invention. For each detected call to a service subscriber cellphone, operation proceeds to step 606. In step 606, the HLR nodedetermines if the called subscriber's cell phone is on. This can be doneby checking phone status information stored in the HLR node's database.The database is periodically updated based on information received fromthe various base stations to which the HLR node 166 is coupled directlyor indirectly.

If it is determined that the called subscriber's cell phone is notactive, operation proceeds from step 606 to step 622 via GOTO step 607.However, if it is determined that the subscriber's cell phone is on,operation proceeds from step 606 to step 608. In step 608, adetermination is made as to whether a call can be successfully completedto the cell phone, e.g., a determination is made as to whether receptionat the cell phone is good enough for the call to be received reliably.This determination may be done based on status information supplied by abase station which periodically receives status signals from the cellphone, with a failure to receive a status signal indicating that thecell phone is unavailable for call completion. If it is determined instep 608 that a cell phone call can not be successfully completed to thecalled cell phone, operation proceeds to step 630 where the reason thecell phone which is on can not be reached is determined. For example, itmay be determined in step 630 that the cell phone is on but temporarilyunreachable due to poor reception at the phone's current location or dueto excessive cellular call volume in the cell where the phone islocated. Operation proceeds from step 630 to step 632 where thedetermined reason why the call can not be successfully completed to the“on” cell phone is communicated to a control module used to control callprocessing. This module may be in the HLR node 166 or located elsewherein the system, e.g., in a service control point or Intelligentperipheral device used to control call processing. Operation proceedsfrom step 632 to step 622 via GOTO node 607.

If in step 608, it is determined that a call to the called cell phonecan be successfully completed, operation proceeds to step 610. In step610 the BS in the cell in which the called cell phone is located isoperated to signal the called cell phone and to indicate that there isan incoming call from a called party, e.g., a calling party identifiedby a calling party telephone number which is communicated to the calledcell phone.

In step 612, the base station which transmitted the call signal, e.g.,BS 106, monitors for a response from the called party, e.g., a signalfrom the called cell phone indicating that the call was answered or calldisposition information indicated by the called party by making a calldisposition selection without answering the call, e.g., by selecting asend-to-voice-mail, forward-call or reject-call option on the cell phonewhich is communicated to the BS 106. This call disposition informationmay be made after caller ID information is displayed to the called partyon the cell phone to which the call was directed.

If in step 612, it is determined that the cell phone call was answered,operation proceeds to step 614. In step 614 the answered call is allowedto complete in the normal manner, e.g., with one of the callparticipates terminating the call by hanging up or selecting an end calloption. From step 614 the method proceeds to step 650 in whichprocessing of the received call stops.

If in step 612 it is determined that the call has not been answered,e.g., after a signal from the called cell phone has not been receivedanswering the call within a predetermined amount of time, operationproceeds to step 616. In step 616, a signal is sent to the callprocessing control device, e.g., HLR node 166, indicating that ano-answer-call status has been determined. Operation proceeds from step616 to step 622.

If in step 612 it is determined that call disposition information hasbeen received by the BS 102 in response to the call directed to thecalled party, operation proceeds to step 620. In step 620 a signal issent by the BS 106 to the call processing control module, e.g., in theHLR node 166, indicating a no-answer-call status and providing usersupplied call disposition information, e.g., forward call to voice mailor forward to another number. Operation then proceeds to step 622.

In step 622, a determination is made as to whether the calling partynumber, available from caller ID information, corresponds to a numberwhich is not to be provide phone status information. Caller telephonenumbers which are not to be supplied telephone status information inaccordance with the invention may be listed in a set of subscriberinformation stored, e.g., in the HLR node in association with thesubscriber's number or at some other location accessible to the callprocessing control module. Alternatively, caller telephone numbers towhich the phone status information is to be provided can be stored andall other caller telephone numbers can be treated as numbers to whichthe phone status information is not to be provided. This is particularlyuseful in cases where the phone status information is to be supplied tofriends and family but not other callers. Numbers to which telephonestatus information is not to be provided may be considered as blockednumbers as opposed to calling party numbers which may be supplied withcell phone state information.

If the calling party number is a telephone number which is not blockedfrom being provided phone status, e.g., active state, information,operation proceeds to step 624. In step 624, the calling party issupplied with an audio message indicating the status for the calledparty's cell phone. The message may indicate that the called party'scell phone is: off; on but there is no answer; on but temporarilyunreachable; on but busy; on but has activated call forwarding; or onbut has activated forwarding to voice mail. The HLR node 166 can includea message generation module for providing such messages to the caller,an intelligent peripheral device may be used to generate the messages oranother device, under control of the call processing control moduleresponsible for controlling call processing, may be used to generate theaudio message. Operation proceeds from step 624 to step 640.

If in step 622, it was determined that the calling party number was anumber to which telephone status information was not to be provided,operation would have proceeded directly from step 622 to step 640. Instep 640 a determination is made as to whether or not the called partyindicated a call disposition operation. If no call disposition optionwas specified by the called party, operation proceeds from step 640 tostep 642 in which the caller is provided an opportunity to betransferred to voice mail. This can be done by announcing to the callerthat they can hang up or hold to be transferred to voice mail. Assumingthat the caller selects to hold and be transferred to voice mail,operation proceeds to step 644 with transfer to voice mail being thecall disposition to be implemented.

If in step 640, the called party indicated a call disposition option,operation proceeds from step 640 to step 644 with the called partyselected call disposition option being the option to be implemented. Instep 644, an announcement is played to the calling party indicating thecall disposition being implemented, e.g., one of transfer to voice mail,forwarding to another number, or call termination. Operation proceedsfrom step 644 to step 646 in which the announced call disposition optionis implemented, e.g., the call is forwarded to voice mail, forwarded toa number indicated by the called party, or terminated. Processing of thereceived call then stops in step 650.

In the above described manner, a calling party can be provided moreinformation about the status of a cell phone than is normally availablein current systems. Knowing that the cell phone is temporarilyunreachable due to poor reception or because of cell loading conditionscan encourage the caller to call back in a short amount of time or makean informed decision as to whether the caller would prefer to betransferred to voice mail.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart 700 of an exemplary method of operating a homelocation register node in accordance with the present invention. Thehome location register node may be one of a plurality of home locationregister nodes in a wireless cellular communications system, each homelocation register node responsible for storing and maintaining stateinformation on a number of cell phones, e.g., mobile nodes. Operationstarts in step 702, where the home location register node is powered onand initialized. The home location register node may have beenpreviously assigned a set of mobile nodes, e.g., cell phones, and callsdirected to the phone number assigned to the assigned set of mobilenodes will be directed to the home location register node for furtherrouting, e.g., to one of a plurality of base stations in the cellularsystem. From start step 702 operation proceeds to steps 704, 706, and708.

In step 704, the home location register node is operated to monitor andreceive MN registration/status signals from BSs. Operation proceeds fromstep 704 to step 710 for each received registration. In step 710, thehome location register node is operated to store registration and statusinformation on an MN. For example, the registration signaling mayidentify that the MN has registered to use a specific base stationwithin the cellular system as its point of network attachment, and thatthe MN is currently available to receive incoming calls. Operationproceeds from step 710 to step 712, in which the home location registernode is operated to maintain registration/status information on the MN.This status information is updated periodically based on statusinformation received from one or more BSs which are received in step706.

In step 706, the home location register node is operated to monitor andreceive MN status messages from BSs, e.g., status messages reporting achange of status of an MN already registered with the BS. For example, astatus message may indicate that a MN is still registered, but istemporarily unavailable to receive an incoming call, e.g., due to poorreception, due to high system interference levels, due to user choice,due to an in progress call, due to high system loading, etc. Otherexemplary updates of status information may include an indication thatthe MN is unavailable to receive incoming calls because the MN is nolonger registered because the BS has de-registered the MN because the BShas not received any signaling from the MN for a specified time intervaland assumes that the MN has either powered down or left its cellularcoverage region. Operation proceeds from step 706 to step 714, in whichthe home location register node is operated to update the MN statusinformation that it is maintaining based on the information received instep 706. The monitoring in step 706 is performed on an ongoing basis.

In step 708, the home location register node is operated to monitor andreceive a request to complete a call to a MN, the called MN being one ofthe MNs whose home location register is the home location register node.The calling party can be a landline phone with the call placementrequest being communicated via a central office mode in a landlinenetwork or the calling party can be another MN, e.g., cell phone, in thewireless communications network with call initiation signaling beingrouted through a base station. Operation proceeds from step 708 to step716.

In step 716, the home location register node is operated to check thestored MN status information to determine if a call can be attempted. Insome embodiments optional steps 718 and 720 are performed. Operationproceeds from step 716 to step 718. In step 718, the home locationregister node, signals the MN's current attachment point base station torequest new status information, and in step 720, the home locationregister node receives and processes any new status information from theMN attachment point BS. Operation proceeds from step 720 to step 722.

In step 722, the home location register node is operated to check if thecall can be attempted based on the status information corresponding tothe MN, e.g., if the registration information indicates that the MN ison, registered with a BS, and is not temporarily unavailable. If thehome location register node determines that the call cannot be attemptedbased on the MN status information, e.g., MN not currently registered orMN registered but unavailable for any of a number of reasons operationproceeds to step 724, otherwise operation proceeds to step 726. In step726, the home location register node sends call establishment signals tothe called MN's registered BS. Operation proceeds from step 726 to step728, where the home location register node checks if the called MN isringing. If in step 728, it is determined that the called MN is notringing operation proceeds to step 724, otherwise operation proceeds tostep 730. In step 730, the home location register node checks as towhether the call was answered by the called MN. If in step 730, it wasdetermined that the call was not answered within a predetermined timethen operation proceeds to step 724; otherwise, operation proceeds tostep 732. In accordance with the invention, a called party can respondby providing call disposition information without answering a call.Alternatively, the called party can enter call disposition information,e.g., forward to a particular landline number when on but temporarilyunavailable or on but busy. Different call forwarding numbers can beprovided for different conditions. In step 732, the home locationregister node is operated to cause forwarding of user voice signalsbetween the called and calling parties. In some embodiments the uservoice signals do not traverse the home location register node, but arerouted via addressing information obtained from the home locationregister node. In other embodiments, the home location register nodeacts as the forwarding device.

Operation proceeds in the case of a no answer condition from step 728 orstep 730 to step 724. Operation also proceeds in the case of anunattempted call from step 722 to step 724. In step 724, the homelocation register node is operated to identify the likely reason why thecall was not attempted or was not answered based on the stored MN statusinformation and information obtained from steps 722, 728, and/or 730.Exemplary reasons why the call was not answered include: high cellloading conditions, cell phone not currently registered, cell phone hadbeen turned off, cell phone assumed off, cell phone temporarily in alocation with poor reception, high system interference levels in cell,cell phone ringing but called party did not answer, called partyprovided call disposition information instructions rather than answercall, called party currently participating in an ongoing call.

Operation proceeds from step 724 to step 734. In some embodiments, somebut not all cell phone subscribers may subscribe to a called party stateforwarding service for unanswered calls. In step 734, the home locationregister node is operated to check as to whether the called MN is an MNfor which called party cell phone state information forwarding is to beprovided. In some embodiments, the called party state forwarding servicefor unanswered calls may be included as a built in feature of a serviceprovider plan, e.g., a standard default feature of the service providerplan included without a specific line item charge for the feature. Thisfeature may be supplied in combination with call forwarding to voicemail and/or selective call forwarding to numbers designated by thesubscriber. If the called MN does have the state forwarding service forunanswered calls, then operation proceeds from step 734 to step 736;otherwise operation proceeds from step 734 to step 740.

In step 736, the home location register node checks if the called stateforwarding should be blocked. For example, in some embodiments thecalled party may have subscribed to a state information blocking featureas well as the main state information service. Step 736 may includechecking the calling party ID to determine if it is on a list of numbersto be denied cell phone state information. Alternatively, the callingparty may be compared to a list of numbers to be provided cell phonestate information, with all other numbers being treated as blocked. Forexample, in general the called party may desire that cell phone stateinformation pertaining to unanswered calls be forwarded to the callingparty to increase the likelihood that the calling party, e.g., a closefamily member, a friend, an associate, a client, a perspective customer,etc., will reattempt the call. However, there may be some individualsfor which the reverse is true, e.g., a pesky relative, a persistentsalesman, a demanding boss, a bill collector, anex-boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife, etc., in which the blockingfeature would be advantageous. Using lists of the calling party numbers,information can be blocked or provided as desired by the subscriber. Inaddition, at some times, e.g., on a vacation, an individual may not wantto be reached by one or more individuals in which case the blockingfeature would also be advantageous. In some embodiments, the calledparty subscribing to the blocking service can select in advance callingparty numbers and/or times for which to apply the blocking service. Insome embodiments, the called party can decide when the called cell phonerings, e.g., via a user ID feature, whether called party stateinformation forwarding to the calling party should be blocked. In somesuch embodiments, the called party can, without answering the call,input a command to the mobile node, e.g., cell phone, resulting insignaling being directed to the home location register node signifyingthe intention to apply the blocking feature.

If in step 736, the home location register node determines that thestate forwarding should be blocked then operation proceeds to step 740;otherwise operation proceeds to step 738.

In step 738, the home location register node is operated to generate andsend an audio message to the calling party which includes inferredcalled party state information, e.g., that the called party istemporarily unavailable or is expected to be unavailable for an extendedperiod of time. The message may also include the mobile node stateinformation indicating the reason the called party is unavailable andindicate how long the called party has been unavailable, e.g., bycommunicating the time when the called party became unavailable or thetotal time the called party has been unavailable. For example, themessage may indicate “the called party is temporarily unavailable due tosignal interference and has been unavailable since 5 pm” or “the calledparty is temporarily unavailable due to signal interference and has beenunavailable for the last 3 minutes”. In the case where long termunavailability has been inferred, the message may be, for example, “Thecalled party is presently unavailable due to signal interference and isexpected to be unavailable for an extended period of time. The calledparty has been unavailable for the last 40 minutes.” Obviously, numerousvariations on the message and its contents are possible.

Operation proceeds from step 738 to step 740. In step 740 the homelocation register node is operated to determine whether the called partyindicated a call disposition option. If the called party did notindicate a call disposition option, then operation proceeds from step740 to step 742; otherwise, operation proceeds from step 740 to step744. In step 742 the home location register node is operated to providethe caller with an opportunity to be transferred to voice mail.Operation proceeds from step 742 to step 744. In step 744, the homelocation register node is operated to announce the call dispositionbeing implemented, e.g., transfer to voice mail, forwarding to anothernumber or call termination. Operation proceeds from step 744 to step746. In step 746, the home location register node is operated toimplement the announced call disposition of step 744. Operation proceedsfrom step 746 to step 750, where the home location register node stopsprocessing of the received call.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart 800 of an exemplary method of operating a cellphone, e.g., mobile node, in accordance with the present invention. Themobile node may be one of a plurality of mobile nodes in a wirelesscellular communications system. Operation starts in step 802, where themobile node is powered on and initialized. Operation proceeds from step802 to step 804. In step 804, the mobile node is operated to generateand send a registration request signal to a base station, e.g., to thebase station that the mobile node desires to use as its point of networkattachment, in whose cellular coverage region the mobile node iscurrently located. Operation proceeds from step 804 to step 806.

In step 806, the mobile node is operated to receive a registrationacknowledgement signal from the base station in response to theregistration request signal, indicating that the base station hasaccepted the mobile node and that mobile node registration informationis being or has been communicated to the MN's home location registernode. If the base station had received the registration request signalor had received the registration request and had decided not to acceptthe MN for registration, the base station may not communicate aregistration acknowledgement signal, and the mobile node may attempt torepeat step 804 at a later time, e.g., on an iterative basis until apositive registration acknowledgement is received from a base station.

With registration having been completed in step 806, operation proceedsfrom step 806 to steps 810, 812, 814, and 818 which correspond toprocesses which may occur in parallel during the period of mobile nodeoperation.

In step 810, the MN is operated to monitor and receive call initiationsignals from the base station directed to the MN. Operation proceedsfrom step 810 to step 824. In step 824, the MN is operated to decide ifthe phone of the called party, e.g., cell phone owner, should be rung.In some embodiments, the MN, having received a call initiation signalmay decide not to ring the user, e.g., based upon a user prior inputcommand to redirect received calls and/or to screen incoming calls,based upon current reception conditions. If the MN decides in step 824to ring the called party, operation proceeds from step 824 to step 826;otherwise operation proceeds from step 824 to step 828.

In step 826, the MN tests if the call is answered. If the MN detectsthat the call is being answered in step 826, then operation proceeds tostep 830; otherwise operation proceeds to step 828. In step 830, the MNis operated to send incoming call acceptance signals to the basestation, and then in step 832 the MN sends and receives user voice/datasignals as the MN participates in a communication session with thecalling party. Operation proceeds from step 832 to step 834. In step834, the MN is operated to generate/send call termination signals to thebase station, e.g., the call termination signals being in response tothe MN user hanging-up. Operation proceeds from step 834 to step 829,where the mobile node stops processing of the call.

Returning to step 828, in step 828 the MN checks whether the MN hasreceived MN operator call disposition input. The input may have beenreceived prior to or subsequent to the reception of the call initiationsignal corresponding to the call. For example, a MN user may havedecided prior to the incoming call under consideration to temporarilytransfer each of the incoming calls or may have selected, e.g., bycalling party number, incoming calls to receive. As another example, amobile node user may have decided after the ringing to transfer aspecific call, e.g., based upon caller ID info, based upon inconvenienttiming, or based upon knowledge that the mobile node user is currentlylocated at the site of a landline phone to which the call will betransferred resulting in superior call quality, and the mobile node usermay have performed an input operation on his/her mobile node, e.g., cellphone, to initiate the transfer operation.

If in step 828, no input was received from the user of the mobile node,processing of the incoming call stops in step 829. However, monitoringin step 810 for additional calls will continue. However if in step 828,it is determined that the MN operator has input a call disposition inputapplicable to the received incoming call, operation proceeds to step836. In step 836, the MN is operated to generate and signal the BS withthe incoming call status/disposition information. Operation proceedsfrom step 836 to step 829.

Returning to step 812, in step 812, which may be performed periodicallywhile the MN is turned on, the MN is operated to send status signals tothe base station, e.g., a signal indicating that the MN is present andactive.

Referring now to step 814, in step 814 the MN is operated to generateoutgoing call initiation signals in response to MN user input, e.g., theuser places a call to another mobile node, e.g., another cell phone, orto a landline phone. Operation proceeds from step 814 to step 840. Instep 840, the MN checks whether the call is answered. If the call isanswered operation proceeds from step 840 to step 842; otherwiseoperation proceeds to step 844. In step 842, the MN is operated toparticipate in a communication session with the called party. In step844, the MN is operated to receive called party status signals, ifcommunicated to the MN. For example, the called party may be another MNwhich has the “called party unanswered call state forwarding service,”and the home location register node of that called MN may send a messageindicating a specific reason why the call was unanswered, e.g., currentreception is poor.

Returning to step 818, in step 818 the MN is operated to monitor andreceive missed call signals. The missed call signals may includeinformation showing the calling party identification information, e.g.,phone number, date/time tag information, reason for the missed call,call transfer information, and/or called party state informationcommunicated to the calling party. In response to received missed-callsignals, operation proceeds from step 818 to step 848. In step 848, theMN is operated to present missed-call signal information to the MN user.

FIG. 9 is a drawing of an exemplary database 900 implemented inaccordance with the present invention and using methods of the presentinvention. In some embodiments, exemplary database 900 is included aspart of a home location registration node, e.g., exemplary home locationregistration node 200 of FIG. 2. In some embodiments, exemplary database900 is located outside of the home location registration node. In someembodiments, the home location registration node uses the informationincluded in database 900 to perform the methods of the present inventionincluding determining called cell phone status and making inferencesabout the called party's status, e.g., whether the called party istemporarily unavailable or is expected to be unavailable for a longperiod of time. The stored information may include informationindicating the time the called party became unavailable for a particularreason. It may also include information indicating the desired calldisposition to be performed when the called party is unavailable.Different call dispositions may depend on whether the called party isinferred to be temporarily unavailable, as compared to when the calledparty is inferred to be unavailable for an extended period of time. Forexample, in the case of temporary unavailability or unavailability dueto signal interference, the called party may specify that the incomingcall be transferred to a landline phone if one has been specified, whilein the case of long term unavailability the called party may setinformation indicating that the call is to be transferred to voice mail.

Database 900 includes a plurality of sets of information (informationset 1 902, information set N 902′), each set corresponding to a cellulartelephone number for which the “called party cell phone state/inferredcalled party status information forwarding service” is implemented.First information set 902 includes cellular telephone number 1 904,registration status 906, device power status (e.g., on/off) 908, callstatus (busy/not busy) 910, time last voice session terminated (e.g.,time completed call ended) 912, signal interference level 914, timesignal interference caused phone to become unreachable 916, signalreception level (e.g., measured received signal strength) 918, timesignal reception level caused phone to become unreachable 920, cellularsystem call loading information 922, and time cellular system callloading began interfering with call completion 924. Nth information set902′ includes cellular telephone number N 904′, registration status906′, device power status (e.g., on/off) 908′, call status (busy/notbusy) 910′, time last voice session terminated (e.g., time completedcall ended) 912′, signal interference level 914′, time signalinterference caused phone to become unreachable 916′, signal receptionlevel (e.g., measured received signal strength) 918′, time signalreception level caused phone to become unreachable 920′, cellular systemcall loading information 922′, and time cellular system call loadingbegan interfering with call completion 924′.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart 1000 of an exemplary called party state inferenceroutine in accordance with the present invention. The method of thesteps of flowchart 1000 may be performed by a home location registrationnode, e.g., node 200 of FIG. 2, implemented in accordance with thepresent invention. In accordance with the method shown in FIG. 10, userunavailability for an extended period of time, e.g., more than athreshold period which can be specified by the user in some embodimentsor set by the system, results in an inference that the called party'sunavailability is long term. However, in the case of the unavailabilityhaving only just occurred, or having a duration less than thepredetermined threshold, it is usually inferred, if the called party'scell phone is registered, that the unavailability is temporary. Thus,while the called party may be unavailable for a particular reason,additional information, such as the duration for which the called partyhas been unavailable, can produce an inference of temporary or long termunavailability. In the case of an inference of temporary unavailabilitythis is usually communicated to the calling party by an announcementthat the called party is “temporarily unavailable” with the reason beingcommunicated in the same message to the caller. In the case of inferredlong term unavailability, the caller may be notified that the party isunavailable along with the reason that the called party is unavailable,e.g., the calling party may receive an audio announcement that “thecalled party is currently unavailable due to signal interference”. Theamount of time the called party has been unavailable due to theparticular condition may also be communicated to the calling party inthe case of an inference of either temporary or long term unavailabilitybecause of a particular condition. For example, the calling party may beplayed the message “the called party is unavailable due to signalinterference and has been unavailable for the last 5 minutes”.

Operation of the called party state inference routine starts in step1002 and proceeds to step 1004. In step 1004 status information isretrieved indicating the reason the call was not successfully completed.If the retrieved status indicates that the cell phone is registered andon but the call was not answered, then operation proceeds from step 1004to step 1006. If the retrieved status indicates that the cell phone isoff or is not registered, operation proceeds from step 1004 to step1008. If the retrieved status indicates that the cell phone isregistered and on but the call is not able to be completed, thenoperation proceeds from step 1004 to step 1010.

In step 1006, a check is performed as to whether the unanswered call iswithin a predetermined time of the last successfully completed voicesession. If the unanswered call was within a predetermined time of lastsuccessfully completed call, then operation proceeds from step 1006 tostep 1012; otherwise operation proceeds from step 1006 to step 1014.

Returning to step 1010, in step 1010 it is determined whether thedifference between the present time and time information associated withstatus information indicating the reason the call cannot be completedexceeds a predetermined threshold amount of time. If it is determinedthat the difference exceeds the predetermined threshold amount of timethen operation proceeds from step 1010 to step 1014; otherwise operationproceeds from step 1010 to step 1012.

If operation proceeds to step 1012, in step 1012 it is inferred that thecalled party is temporarily unavailable. If operation proceeds to step1014, in step 1014 it is inferred that the called party's unavailabilityis long term, e.g., more than a few minutes. Operation proceeds fromstep 1012 or step 1014 to step 1016.

Returning to step 1008, in step 1008, it is inferred that the calledparty is not accepting cell phone calls at the present time. Operationproceeds from step 1008 to step 1016. In step 1016, the routine returnsthe determined inferred called party state information for communicationto the calling party.

In various embodiments elements described herein are implemented usingone or more modules to perform the steps corresponding to one or moremethods of the present invention. Thus, in some embodiments variousfeatures of the present invention are implemented using modules. Suchmodules may be implemented using software, hardware or a combination ofsoftware and hardware. Many of the above described methods or methodsteps can be implemented using machine executable instructions, such assoftware, included in a machine readable medium such as a memory device,e.g., RAM, floppy disk, etc. to control a machine, e.g., general purposecomputer with or without additional hardware, to implement all orportions of the above described methods, e.g., in one or more nodes.Accordingly, among other things, the present invention is directed to amachine-readable medium including machine executable instructions forcausing a machine, e.g., processor and associated hardware which may bepart of a test device, to perform one or more of the steps of theabove-described method(s).

Numerous additional variations on the methods and apparatus of thepresent invention described above will be apparent to those skilled inthe art in view of the above description of the invention. Suchvariations are to be considered within the scope of the invention.

1. A method for servicing a call from a calling party to a cellulartelephone corresponding to a called party, the method comprising:operating a device in a communications network to detect a call to saidcellular telephone; operating said device to determine from storedtelephone status information the status of said cellular telephone,wherein at least a portion of said stored information other than theregistration was stored prior to detecting the call; when the call isnot successfully completed to the called party, operating said device tocommunicate called party state information to the calling party;operating said device to store telephone state information correspondingto the called party's cellular phone based on a registration signalautomatically sent to a base station from the called party's cellularphone upon the called party's cellular phone being powered on; andoperating said device to forward the detected call to voice mail whensaid telephone state information indicates that the called cellulartelephone is registered but is not reachable for an extended period oftime, said extended period of time being at least 10 minutes.
 2. Amethod for servicing a call from a calling party to a cellular telephonecorresponding to a called party, the method comprising: operating adevice in a communications network to detect a call to said cellulartelephone; operating said device to determine from stored telephonestatus information the status of said cellular telephone indicating thatthe cellular telephone is busy with an ongoing call and the cellulartelephone is on, wherein at least a portion of said stored informationother than the registration was stored prior to detecting the call; andwhen the call is not successfully completed to the called party,operating said device to communicate called party state information tothe calling party, said step of operating said device to communicateincluding: inferring, as a function of stored information indicating atime of a last successfully completed voice call in which the cellulartelephone was involved, that the called party is temporarily unavailableand is temporarily away from their cellular telephone; providing anaudio message indicating the inferred state of the called party to thecalling party; and communicating information indicating that thecellular telephone is on, the called party is temporarily unavailable,that the cellular telephone is busy with an ongoing call, and that thecalled party is temporarily away from their cellular telephone.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein said inference includes determining that thecalled party is temporarily away from their cellular telephone if saiddetected call is within a predetermined amount of time from the time ofsaid last successfully completed voice call.
 4. A method for servicing acall from a calling party to a cellular telephone corresponding to acalled party, the method comprising: operating a device in acommunications network to detect a call to said cellular telephone;operating said device to determine from stored telephone statusinformation the status of said cellular telephone, including indicatingwhether the cellular telephone is subject to poor reception; and whereinat least a portion of said stored information other than theregistration was stored prior to detecting the call; and when the callis not successfully completed to the called party, operating said deviceto communicate called party state information to the calling party, saidstep of operating said device to communicate including: inferring, as afunction of the reception quality indicated by said stored stateinformation, the state of the called party from the stored telephonestatus information; providing an audio message indicating the inferredstate of the called party to the calling party; and communicatinginformation indicating the status of the cellular telephone to thecalling party.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein when the cellulartelephone status information indicates that the cellular telephone issubject to poor reception, said step of inferring the state of thecalled party includes examining time information associated with saidreception state information to determine the length of time the cellularphone has been unable to receive calls due to poor reception; andwherein it is inferred that the called party is temporarily unavailablewhen the determined length of time the cellular phone has beenunavailable is below a threshold amount of time.
 6. The method of claim5, wherein the step of communicating the inferred state of the calledparty includes communicating that the called party is temporarilyunavailable when it is inferred that the called party is temporarilyunavailable; and wherein communicating the status of the cellulartelephone includes indicating that the cellular telephone is subject topoor reception when the stored state information indicates that the callcan not be completed due to poor reception.
 7. A method for servicing acall from a calling party to a cellular telephone corresponding to acalled party, the method comprising: operating a device in acommunications network to detect a call to said cellular telephone;operating said device to determine from stored telephone statusinformation the status of said cellular telephone indicating that thecellular telephone is subject to system capacity limitations which willnot permit the call to be completed, wherein at least a portion of saidstored information other than the registration was stored prior todetecting the call; and when the call is not successfully completed tothe called party, operating said device to communicate called partystate information to the calling party, said step of operating saiddevice to communicate including: inferring from the stored telephonestatus information that the called party is temporarily unavailable;providing an audio message indicating the inferred state of the calledparty to the calling party; and communicating information indicating thestatus of the cellular telephone to the calling party, including thatthe called party is temporarily unavailable and system overloading whichprevents calls from being completed to the cell phone.
 8. A method forservicing a call from a calling party to a cellular telephonecorresponding to a called party, the method comprising: operating adevice in a communications network to detect a call to said cellulartelephone; operating said device to determine-from stored telephonestatus information the status of said cellular telephone indicating thatthe cellular telephone is subject to signal interference, wherein atleast a portion of said stored information other than the registrationwas stored prior to detecting the call; and when the call is notsuccessfully completed to the called party, operating said device tocommunicate called party state information to the calling party, saidstep of operating said device to communicate including: inferring fromthe stored telephone status information that the state of the calledparty is that the called party is temporarily unavailable; providing anaudio message indicating the inferred state of the called party to thecalling party; communicating to the calling party information indicatingthat the called party is temporarily unavailable; and indicating thatthe cellular telephone is subject to signal interference.
 9. A methodfor servicing a call from a calling party to a cellular telephonecorresponding to a called party, the method comprising: operating adevice in a communications network to detect detecting a call to saidcellular telephone; operating said device to determine from storedtelephone status information, including indicating the time of the lastcompleted telephone call in which said cellular telephone was used, thestatus of said cellular telephone, wherein at least a portion of saidstored information other than the registration was stored prior todetecting the call; and when the call is not successfully completed tothe called party, operating said device to communicate called partystate information to the calling party, said step of operating saiddevice to communicate including: inferring the state of the called partyfrom the stored telephone status information; and providing an audiomessage indicating the inferred state of the called party to the callingparty.
 10. A method for servicing a call from a calling party to acellular telephone corresponding to a called party, the methodcomprising: operating a device in a communications network to detect acall to said cellular telephone; operating said device to determine fromstored telephone status information the status of said cellulartelephone, wherein at least a portion of said stored information otherthan the registration was stored prior to detecting the call; and whenthe call is not successfully completed to the called party, operatingsaid device to communicate called party state information to the callingparty, said step of operating said device to communicate including:inferring the state of the called party from the stored telephone statusinformation, including as a function of stored information indicatingthe time of the last successfully completed telephone call in which thecellular telephone was used; providing an audio message indicating theinferred state of the called party to the calling party; andcommunicating information indicating the status of the cellulartelephone to the calling party.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein saidinference includes determining that the called party is temporarilyunavailable from their cellular telephone when said last successfullycompleted telephone call is within a predetermined amount of time fromthe time of said detected telephone call.
 12. A method for servicing acall from a calling party to a cellular telephone corresponding to acalled party, the method comprising: operating a device in acommunications network to detect a call to said cellular telephone;operating said device to determine from stored telephone statusinformation the status of said cellular telephone, wherein at least aportion of said stored information other than the registration wasstored prior to detecting the call; when the call is not successfullycompleted to the called party, operating said device to communicatecalled party state information to the calling party; and operating saiddevice to update said stored set of telephone status information when achange in the operational status of said cellular telephone is detected,said updating including storing information indicating the time thecellular telephone became unavailable due to poor reception or signalinterference.
 13. A method for servicing a call from a calling party toa cellular telephone corresponding to a called party, the methodcomprising: operating a device in a communications network to detect acall to said cellular telephone; operating said device to determine fromstored telephone status information the status of said cellulartelephone, wherein at least a portion of said stored information otherthan the registration was stored prior to detecting the call; when thecall is not successfully completed to the called party, operating saiddevice to communicate called party state information to the callingparty; and operating said device to update said stored set of telephonestatus information to indicate a time a voice call originating from saidcellular telephone or a voice call terminating at said cellulartelephone is successfully completed following an exchange of at leastsome voice signals through said cellular telephone as part of thesuccessfully completed call.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein saiddevice is a home location register.
 15. The method of claim 2, whereinsaid device is a home location register.
 16. The method of claim 4,wherein said device is a home location register.
 17. The method of claim7, wherein said device is a home location register.
 18. The method ofclaim 8, wherein said device is a home location register.
 19. The methodof claim 9, wherein said device is a home location register.
 20. Themethod of claim 10, wherein said device is a home location register. 21.The method of claim 12, wherein said device is a home location register.22. The method of claim 13, wherein said device is a home locationregister.